QPMPA Journal September 2011 - Qualified Private Medical ...

ethics
○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○
medical education
Recent controversy on village posting of
doctors has put doctors on one side of
the fence and the whole world on the
other. I remember, when I was selected to
medical college 35 years ago, I went to
one of my elderly aunts to seek her blessing.
She was not happy and expressed
her anxiety very eloquently. “You are
such a nice boy, but now you’ll become a
bad man”. That, I think, sums up summarily
the attitude of society towards
doctors.
The problem probably lies with doctors.
They work for money; they do not care for
the society, they kill female foetuses for a
few bucks, and they refuse treatment for
want of money; they are not up-to-date
with knowledge, they order unnecessary
tests just to get a share of the charges.
Many are true but most are not. I know
an ultra-sonologist who gives false reports
to help a gynaecologist to do unnecessary
surgeries, and I have seen
much soiled linen in my professional life
that I should not dare to wash in public.
Definitely, you also have.
My worry is about the ways society is going
about to solve the problems. The society
wants solutions without any assistance
from doctors. Society wants to prescribe
medicine prepared by it for the
illnesses of medical profession. It was the
same when the Consumer Protection
Act came. Most sane doctors protested
and some insane ones also did. Society
completely ignored both. I remember having
told a gathering of legal experts, that
they were putting the patients from frying
pan to fire, from doctors to lawyers.
I asked them, whether Consumer Protection
Act on doctors was to improve
services or getting compensations (? or
to teach doctors a lesson!).
I assured them none would be possible.
However, people never learn from history.
Did road accident compensations improve
quality of drivers? It has helped to
raise the insurance premiums. If Consumer
Protection Act on doctors was intended
for compensation, it has served
the purpose, but if it were to improve services,
it is useless. They made funny faces
and were convinced I was ‘also a bad
doctor and should be taught lessons’.
There was one ‘know-all’ TV talk show,
which said if you cannot become a doctor
in five years, then, you would never.
So cerebral! One does not become a ‘doctor’
after passing MBBS; it takes at least
2-3 yrs. of fulltime dedicated work under
supervision of seniors. That is what
house jobs are meant for. Earlier house
dr. asok sinha
jobs were compulsory before MD entrance.
After two house jobs if one did not get a
PG admission, one could still practice.
Practicing medicine without a house job
does not prepare a doctor well.
Are there solutions to problems in villages?
There are, if government bothers
to listen. Make it compulsory for all parliamentarians
to stay in villages for one
year and do daily practical training in
‘service’ to people. Make it compulsory for
IIM graduates to stay in villages for one
year to work for betterment of rural finances,
before they get degrees. All High
Court judges must stay in villages for one
year to help solve the pending cases before
becoming eligible for promotion to
Supreme Court. Post all IAS officers in
villages for one year before they are confirmed?
Sounds funny? On the contrary, it is extremely
serious.
The entire medical course needs to be revamped.
There should be only one degree,
MD, a nine year integrated course,
equivalent to PhD. All students, after four
years, would get a provisional registration
to work as doctors under senior supervision.
They would select their specialty
now, depending on the merit. All diploma
courses should be abolished. There
○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○
126
QPMPA.JMS . Vol. XXV . No. 3 . June-Sept. 2011